Sophomore Rhetoric

The Fourth Power

Explanatory synthesis
Mrs. Suraya Rahme Yara Yazbeck 30/04/2012 Spring 2012 Id#: 201003293

The Fourth Power Outline

Do media in the United States mislead people? I. Media mislead people A. Subjective reporting B. Propaganda C. Manipulative techniques 1. Sophisticated advertises 2. Employment of psychological theory D. Pressure exerted on it 1. By media corporates 2. Advertisers 3. Political

II. Media do not mislead people A. Objective reporting B. Open view of the issues C. Highlighting hidden issues to public

The Fourth Power

A homicide car bomber rammed the gate of a NATO base in Eastern Afghanistan today, triggering a blast that killed nine Afghans. reported by the fox news. A suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the gates of a NATO base and airport in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, triggering a blast that killed nine Afghans, officials said.- reported by the associated press. It is the same event, a person that crashed his car into a fence and murdered people, which was reported using two different words from two different media. The first referred to the fact as a homicide rather than the objective word that should be used which is suicide. The message that got to the public was highly influenced by the reporters or the mediums opinion. Does this kind of reporting happen all the time? Are all the messages that reach the audience falsified and manipulated? Do any factors influence the correct and fair reporting of news to people by the media? Do media in the United States mislead people? From one point of view, media in the United States mislead people. To begin with, many of the times media reports subjectively. Lots of scandals related to media omissions, suppression, changing and false interpretation of information as well as unfair portraying of issues caused the American citizens to have a wrong view of the issues.(Shah,A., 2012, para.3). Moreover, propaganda constitutes a big part of the medias work to influence people. Some people working in this domain describe their jobs as propagandists. In fact, media workers make use of their position to propagate certain words or issues which might not be necessarily true, the thing that leads to the misleading of people.(med. Misl. Amer., 2007, para.1) Furthermore, media

especially nowadays focuses on many manipulative techniques to trick the audience. Actually, it uses sophisticated advertising techniques that create false needs to the audience, making them fall for their tricks. Also, other than using the sophisticated advertises media employs a psychological theory in all what it delivers to people by appealing to their emotions and not by addressing to their logic. (Austin,A., 1968, para.4). In addition, the pressure exerted on the media on many levels, affect a lot the way in which media delivers issues to public. First, there is the medias corporates pressure, which obliges employees to deliver only what makes the corporate look good, and what makes the company sell more regardless of the accuracy of the messages, putting credibility in the back seat. Second, comes the advertisers pressure. When a media company needs the money of its advertisers to keep on working, the latters will be able to pressure the workers to kill some stories and promote others. To add, some of the advertised products are not as perfect as the media makes them look, and this is an explicit way in which people are misled to go buy the product. Third, other than the corporate and advertising pressures, there is still political pressure. The latter forces media to publish only stories in which some politicians look good to protect their reputations while some very important stories in which these politicians made wrong are kept unrevealed to the audience because it does not serve their political career.(Schmitt-Beck,R., 2003, para.5-10). From the other point of view, media in the United States do not mislead people. As a start, media reporting is objective regardless of the issue. In fact, one of the most important functions of the media, that it performs fairly enough, is to deliver messages objectively, the way it is with no manipulation. The delivery of the message with no subjective input or interpretation does not mislead people.( Dilke, C., 1991, para.13). To continue, media provides to the audience an open view of the issues. On TV, in the newspaper, magazines and online people find

discussions about any issue they want to know or learn about. The discussion there comes in pretty good details and most of the times photos are found attached. All this is made in order to supply the public with all the information they need for them to be in a knowledgeable position of what is happening in their surroundings.( Lott et al., 2005, para.6). This knowledge leads to the increased activity of citizens on all levels: social, educational, political, economical, etc. The media by its daily reporting enables people to frame opinions about all different matters something that causes the formation of a better judgment.( Shah, A., 2012 para.9). Moreover, media is not only a messenger of what is seen; it is also the way by which hidden issues are revealed to public. The medias job is to inform the public about everything. Positive and negative stories should be highlighted to the audience, regardless of their effect on the people involved. Many scandals were covered by the media in order to insure to the population their right of being informed not to damage other peoples reputations. (Medias. Pres. Bias, 2008, para.4). After all, the purpose of the media is to help people by conserving their right of truth knowledge, right of speech and freedom of opinion. (Peters,J. & Simonson, P., 1968, pp 78-79). To conclude, the misleading of media is such a controversial issue that cannot be readily solved. More and more of the medias bias are being seen and lived nowadays. While some people advocate that all media are credible sources that aim only to serve people and provide them with the information needed to live, others argue that media does not deliver always the stories the way they are, they are often influenced by many factors and use many techniques that divert the public from the knowledge of the real truth. Where do the media stand actually in the society? Is there any source to which the public could come to report media bias? Should there be any more laws that define the true and definite task that media should perform? Is medias power getting too big that someday it will crash every boundary?

References Austin, A. (1968) writing Antitrust proscription and the mass media. Duke Law Journal, Vol.1968, No.6, pp.1021-1067. Retrieved April 12 from Jstor. Dilke, C. (1991). The invitation. Retrieved April 12 from http://www.invitation-magazine.com/2011/misleading-media/ Lott et al. (2005) writing Media Matters for America. U.S. Newswire. Retrieved April 12 from Proquest database. Media Misleading Americans by Using Surge to describe Bush Policy. (2007). Retrieved April 12 from http://thinkprogress.org/media/2007/01/10/9560/media-surgeescalation/?mobile=nc Medias Presidential Bias and Decline (2008). Retrieved April 12 from http://www.takeapen.org/Takeapen/Templates/showpage.asp? DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=842&FID=577 Peters, J. & Simonson, P.(1919-1968) writing Mass Communication and American social thoughts. The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing group, Inc. Maryland. Schmitt-Beck, R. (2003) writing Mass Communication, Personal communication and Vote Choice.

British Journal of Political Science, Vol.33, No.2, pp.233-259. Retrieved April 12 from Jstor database. Shah, A. (2012). Media in the United States. Retrieved April 12 fromhttp://www.globalissues.org/article/163/media-in-the-unitedstates